Ruling on offering the funeral prayer in absentia

Question

What is the ruling on offering the funeral prayer for the deceased in absentia? If it is allowed, then should the funeral prayer be offered in absentia in all cases?.

Answer

Praise be to Allaah.

It is proven in al-Saheehayn that the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) came out to his companions the
day the Negus, the king of Abyssinia (may Allaah have mercy on him), died;
told them the news of his death and he lined them up in rows and offered the
funeral prayer.

This hadeeth indicates that it is prescribed to offer the
funeral prayer in absentia, but some of the scholars, such as the Hanafis
and Maalikis said that this applied only to the Messenger (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him), and it is not prescribed for anyone else
to offer the funeral prayer in absentia. The majority of scholars rejected
that, however, and said that whether or not a thing applies only to the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) can only be proven
with evidence, and the basic principle is that the ummah is enjoined to
follow the example of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him).

The scholars who say that it is prescribed to offer the
funeral prayer in absentia differed as to whether this should be done in all
cases or not. All of them quoted the fact that the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) offered the funeral prayer for the Negus in
absentia as evidence.

The Shaafa’is and Hanbalis are of the view that it is
prescribed to offer the funeral prayer in absentia for everyone who dies
away from his home town, even if the funeral prayer is offered for him in
the place where he dies.

The second view is that it is prescribed to offer the funeral
prayer in absentia if the deceased had benefited the Muslims in some way,
such as a scholar, a mujaahid or a rich man from whose wealth the people
benefited, and so on.

This view was narrated from Imam Ahmad, and it is the view
favoured by Shaykh al-Sa’di, and is mentioned in fatwas issued by the
Standing Committee.

The third view is that it is prescribed to offer the funeral
prayer in absentia so long as the funeral prayer has not been offered for
the deceased in the place where he died. If the funeral prayer has been
offered for him, then it is not prescribed to offer the funeral prayer for
him in absentia.

This view is the other view narrated from Imam Ahmad. It was
also favoured by Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah and his student Ibn al-Qayyim,
and among later scholars it was favoured by Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen.

There follow some comments of the scholars on this issue:

Al-Khurshi (Maaliki) said (2/142): The fact that the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) offered the funeral prayer
for the Negus (in absentia) is one of the things that applied only to him.

Something similar was stated in Badaa’i al-Sanaa’i by
al-Kasaani (Hanafi) (1/312).

Al-Nawawi (may Allaah have mercy on him) said in
al-Majmoo’ (5/211): Our view is that it is permissible to offer the
funeral prayer for one died away from his home town, but Abu Haneefah
disallowed it. Our evidence is the hadeeth about the Negus, which is saheeh
and has no faults, and they do not have any valid answer to that. End
quote.

Al-Shaafa’i imposed a valid restriction on offering the
funeral prayer in absentia, which is that the one who offers the funeral
prayer for the deceased should be one of those who would have offered the
prayer for him the day he died.

Zakariya al-Ansaari (may Allaah have mercy on him) said in
Asna al-Mataalib (1/322): Offering the funeral prayer for one who died
away from his home town is only permissible for those who would have prayed
for him the day he died. End quote.

Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:
But some of the scholars imposed a valid restriction and said: so long as
the one who has been buried died at a time when the one who is praying for
him was qualified to pray.

For example: a man died twenty years ago, and a person who is
thirty years old goes out and offers the funeral prayer for him – this is
valid, because when the man died, the one who is praying for him was ten
years old, so he is qualified to offer the funeral prayer for the deceased.

Another example: A man died thirty years ago, and a person
who is twenty years old goes out and offers the funeral prayer for him. This
is not valid, because the one who is praying did not exist at the time when
the man died, so he is not qualified to offer the funeral prayer for him.

So it is not prescribed for us to offer the funeral prayer
over the grave of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him).
We have never known any of the scholars saying that it is prescribed for a
person to offer the funeral prayer at the grave of the Prophet (peace
and blessings of Allaah be upon him) or at the graves of the Sahaabah,
rather what is prescribed is to stand and say du’aa’ for them. End quote.

Ibn Qudaamah (may Allaah have mercy on him) said in
al-Mughni (2/195):

It is permissible to offer the funeral prayer in absentia for
one who is in another land, by forming the intention then turning to face
the qiblah, and offering the funeral prayer as one would offer it for one
who is present, whether the deceased is lying in the direction of the qiblah
or not, and whether there is a short distance between the two places or not.
This is the view of al-Shaafa’i. End quote.

Al-Mardaawi said in al-Insaaf (2/533): The funeral
prayer may be offered in absentia with the right intention. This is our view
with regard to all cases (i.e., whether the funeral prayer has already been
offered or him or not, and whether he benefited the Muslim masses or not).
This is the view of the majority of our companions and many of them were
definite about that. And it was narrated from Imam Ahmad that it is not
permissible to offer the funeral prayer in absentia. And it was said that
the funeral prayer may be offered if it has not yet been offered, otherwise
it should not be done. This is the view favoured by Shaykh Taqiy al-Deen and
Ibn ‘Abd al-Qawiy. End quote.

Shaykh al-Bassaam (may Allaah have mercy on him) said in
Nayl al-Ma’aarib (1/324):

The scholars differed concerning offering the funeral prayer
in absentia. Abu Haneefah and Maalik and their followers were of the view
that it is not prescribed, and they responded to the story of the Negus and
the prayer that was offered for him by noting that this was something that
applied only to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him).

Al-Shaafa’i and Ahmad and their followers are of the view
that it is prescribed, and they quote two saheeh hadeeths as evidence.
Whether or not a thing applies only to the Prophet (peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him) requires evidence, and there is no evidence in this
case. Shaykh al-Islam adopted a middle path and said: If the funeral prayer
has not been offered for the absent one, as in the case of the Negus, then
it may be offered, but if the funeral prayer has been offered for him, then
the communal obligation (fard kafaayah) no longer applies to the Muslims.

This view was also mentioned in a saheeh narration from Imam
Ahmad, which was classed as saheeh by Ibn al-Qayyim in al-Hadiy,
because some of the Companions died at the time of the Prophet (peace
and blessings of Allaah be upon him) when they were away from him, and there
is no proof that he offered the funeral prayer for any of them in absentia.

Shaykh al-Islam narrated that Imam Ahmad said: If a righteous
man dies, then the funeral prayer may be offered for him, and he quoted as
evidence the story of the Negus.

This view was favoured by our shaykh ‘Abd al-Rahmaan al-Sa’di
(may Allaah have mercy on him), and this is what is done in Najd, where they
offer the funeral prayer for any virtuous person who benefited the Muslims,
and they leave anybody else. The prayer in this case is mustahabb. End
quote.

Al-Khattaabi said: The funeral prayer should not be offered
in absentia except if a person dies in a land where there is no one to offer
the prayer for him. Al-Rooyaani, a Shaafa’i scholar, favoured this view, and
Abu Dawood used a heading in al-Sunan that referred to this meaning when he
said: “Chapter on offering the funeral prayer for a Muslim living among the
mushrikeen in another land.” Al-Haafiz said: This is possibly correct. End
quote from Fath al-Baari.

The Standing Committee (8/418) was asked: Is it permissible
for us to offer the funeral prayer for the deceased in absentia as the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) did for his beloved
the Negus, or did that apply only to him?

They replied:

It is permissible to offer the funeral prayer in absentia
because the Prophet did that, and this does not apply only to him,
because his companions (may Allaah be pleased with them) also prayed for the
Negus with him, and because the basic principle is that things do not apply
only to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), but
that should be done only for those who made a contribution to Islam, not for
everyone. End quote.

Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) was
asked: It is proven that the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah
be upon him) offered the funeral prayer for the Negus in absentia, and the
reason for that was that there were no Muslims there who could pray for him.
Now the Muslims may die in groups and there is no one to pray for them, as
happens nowadays, and there is certainty that no one has offered the funeral
prayer for them?

He replied: If you are certain that no one has offered the
funeral prayer for them, then pray for them, because the funeral prayer is a
communal obligation, but probably his family have offered the funeral prayer
for him, because the funeral prayer may be offered by one person. Whatever
the case, if you are certain that nobody has offered the funeral prayer for
him, then you have to offer the prayer for him, because it is a communal
obligation which must be discharged. End quote. From Majmoo’ Fataawa
al-Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (17/149)

From the above it is clear that offering the funeral prayer
in absentia is prescribed, because it is proven that the Prophet (peace
and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and his companions prayed for the
Negus, and there is no evidence to prove that this is something that applied
only to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). But
the soundest views on this matter are two:

1 – That the funeral prayer should not offered in absentia
except for one for whom it has not been offered.

2 – That the funeral prayer may be offered in absentia for
one who has benefited the Muslims, such as a scholar from whose knowledge
the people benefited, or a businessman from whose wealth the people
benefited, or a mujaahid from whose jihad the people benefited, and so on.